An Automated Method for Optimizing the Energy Efficiency of Multi-Story Student Residence Halls Using Façade Photovoltaic Installations

Relatively uniform consumption of a large amount of electrical energy intended for the current operation of the equipment of multi-story student dormitories indicates several actions aimed at renovation of these dormitories using photovoltaic installations producing electricity to replace the energy supplied from external networks. The research allowed for parameterization of input and output data, defining several innovative parametric and discrete models used in modernization processes and constituting the basis for optimizing energy renovations in terms of the substitutability of grid energy, payback periods, and investment costs. A new method developed to renovate dormitories was supported by an application elaborated in the visual parametric Rhino/Grasshopper design environment. This application enables automatic uploading of various meteorological data files and programming the loads, properties, and operation of the designed photovoltaic installation. This method results in a single optimal solution concerning a building renovation process, which allows for fully automated execution of the above activities. The developed models were configured based on a real renovated multi-story residence student hall located on the Central European Plain, for which a 34.3% balance of the replaced grid energy was carried out. The optimizing processes concerning the geometric properties and orientation of photovoltaic panels resulted in −30° of azimuth, 210 m2 of total surface area, and 14° of tilt of photovoltaic panels distributed on the south façade, with 193 m2 of surface area, 42° of tilt of panels arranged on the east façade, and an optimal payback period of 99 months. The invented algorithm, parametric models, computer programs, simulations, and optimizing calculations fill the gap in variant-optimized modelling and simplify the design processes of renovations of multi-story residence halls. These objects provide a basis for expanding the method to include other types of dormitory modernizations.